Domaine Leroy tasting: three steps, from Aligoté to Corton-Charlemagne

Tasting Domaine Leroy by ascending through the levels means following the same hand from the regional appellation up to grand cru. The tasting lines up three wines from the domaine: Bourgogne Aligoté 2014, Vosne-Romanée Premier Cru Les Beaux Monts 2011, and Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru 2009. Two whites and a red, three different vintages, one way of working the vines. In the first tasting journey of the week, the vertical tasting of Barolo Riserva by Borgogno, we had compared vintages of the same wine; here the focus shifts: the same producer, different levels.

Lalou Bize-Leroy and the three names not to confuse

Lalou Bize-Leroy was born in Paris in 1932, into a négociant family. Maison Leroy was founded in 1868 in Auxey-Duresses by François Leroy; in 1955, at the age of twenty-three, Lalou took the helm, tasked with selecting and buying wines that had already been made. From 1974 to 1992, she shared the management of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti with Aubert de Villaine.

In 1988 she acquired Domaine Charles Noëllat, in Vosne-Romanée, and transformed it into Domaine Leroy. In the early years, vineyards in Gevrey-Chambertin, from Domaine Philippe Rémy, were added, and in 1990 a plot of Musigny, the grand cru of Chambolle-Musigny; Corton-Charlemagne came later. The domaine covers just over twenty hectares and is one of the names that set the standard in Bourgogne: the criteria for recognizing them are outlined in our guide to benchmark producers in Burgundy.

Anyone buying or opening a bottle of Leroy should keep three names distinct. Domaine Leroy makes wine in Vosne-Romanée from grapes grown in its own vineyards. Maison Leroy, in Auxey-Duresses, is the family's négociant house. Finally, Domaine d'Auvenay takes its name from Lalou's home on the plateau above Saint-Romain and is another winery, with its own vineyards and wines.

In the vineyard and cellar

Biodynamic farming was adopted from the outset, across all the vineyards. The early years were not easy: in 1993, mildew struck hard, and very little was harvested in some parcels. Since 2000, the shoots have no longer been topped, but instead are woven along the wires, which have been raised. Yields remain very low, often below twenty hectoliters per hectare: hence the wines' concentration and scarcity.

For the reds, the bunches are hand-selected and destemmed, leaving the berries whole; there is no crushing, and fermentation takes place in wooden vats. The whites are pressed as whole bunches and often spend two winters on the lees. Aging takes place in new barrels, and the wines are bottled without fining or filtration. In the glass, rather than chasing individual aromas, it is best to follow the wine's density, tension and length, and observe how they change from one rung to the next.

Three rungs: regional, premier cru, grand cru

The three bottles span three levels of the Burgundy hierarchy. It is worth getting to know them in this order, from bottom to top, before deciding how to serve them.

Bourgogne Aligoté 2014

Aligoté is Burgundy's second white grape variety after Chardonnay and usually produces wines with high acidity that can be enjoyed young. The Bourgogne Aligoté 2014 from Domaine Leroy follows the same vineyard practices as the crus and is the starting point: the rung where the way of working matters most and the place matters less. Along the way, it serves as a benchmark: what the two crus add is measured from here.

Vosne-Romanée Premier Cru Les Beaux Monts 2011

Les Beaux Monts is a premier cru in Vosne-Romanée, straddling the border with Flagey-Echézeaux, high on the slope, above the grand cru Échezeaux. The Leroy vines here came with the acquisition of Domaine Charles Noëllat. The Vosne-Romanée Premier Cru Les Beaux Monts 2011 is the red wine in the progression: the domaine's Pinot Noir seen through a specific vineyard. The red range then rises to the grand crus of the Côte de Nuits, including Musigny; among the reds, this progression stops one step short.

Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru 2009

Corton-Charlemagne is the white grand cru of the Corton hill: the vineyards occupy the upper part of the slope, between Aloxe-Corton, Pernand-Vergelesses and Ladoix-Serrigny, and the appellation is reserved for white wines, made essentially from Chardonnay. At the domaine, it was added after the first purchases. The Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru 2009 is the highest step in the progression and the second white: alongside the Aligoté, it shows what changes when the same work meets a grand cru.

In what order to serve them

The hierarchy of appellations and the serving order do not coincide. The whites come before the red, because a white served after a tannic red is harder to appreciate. The order is as follows:

• Bourgogne Aligoté 2014, between 10 and 12 °C;
• Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru 2009, a couple of degrees higher, between 12 and 14 °C;
• Vosne-Romanée Premier Cru Les Beaux Monts 2011, around 16 °C.

This way, you climb twice: among the whites, from regional to grand cru, and then toward the red. Take the whites out of the refrigerator a few minutes beforehand, as a household refrigerator is colder than necessary. It is better to pour small servings, so you can return to each wine as it changes in the glass. To compare the two whites, use the same glass; for the red, a wider one.

Whites and reds with some age

All three bottles are more than ten years old, and service should take this into account. A mature white Burgundy should not be served too cold, because the cold masks precisely what time has added: it is better to open it shortly before serving, taste a sip, and leave it in the glass for a few minutes before judging it. The question to ask is simple: does the acidity still hold the wine together? A red with around fifteen years of age calls for particular attention to the sediment: the bottle should be left upright before serving and poured slowly. A color turning garnet and softer tannins are normal signs of age, not flaws. For opening and delicate corks, see our guide on how to serve fragile old vintages.

To put the 2009, 2011 and 2014 vintages in Burgundy into context, you can start with STELT's Vintage Guide. No guide, however, can replace tasting: with bottles of this age, the glass gives the definitive answer.

The three wines are part of the Domaine Leroy collection, within STELT's selection of Burgundy wines. The wine shop in Lucca organizes tastings and events: themed gatherings and private experiences for small groups of enthusiasts and collectors.

It is part of STELT Tasting Week: every day, a journey in the glass.